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Helplessness: On Depression, Development, and Death
Describes syndromes of depression, anxiety, and psychosomatic illness and relates studies of helplessness in laboratory animals to human behavior
250 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
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766 people want to read
About the author
Martin E.P. Seligman
69 books1,170 followersSeligman is the Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology in the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Psychology. He was previously the Director of the Clinical Training Program in the department. Seligman was elected President of the American Psychological Association by the widest margin in its history and served in that capacity during the 1998 term.[4] He is the founding editor-in-chief of Prevention and Treatment Magazine (the APA electronic journal), and is on the board of advisers of Parents.
Seligman has written about positive psychology topics such as The Optimistic Child, Child's Play, Learned Optimism, Authentic Happiness," and in 2011, "Flourish."
Seligman has written about positive psychology topics such as The Optimistic Child, Child's Play, Learned Optimism, Authentic Happiness," and in 2011, "Flourish."
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January 24, 2011Seligman uses a workmanlike writing style to convey some significant results of his and others' psychological research on the phenomenon of "learned helplessness," a state where people and dogs and other things just give up on some task, or even die in some cases. Each chapter has a thesis that is supported by a litany of studies, and, as you might expect, these theses walk through the phenomena of depression, development, and death.
If you or someone you know is depressed and you want to know more about why and how depression happens, this book is fantastic (and hard to get, apparently).
If you or someone you know is depressed and you want to know more about why and how depression happens, this book is fantastic (and hard to get, apparently).
October 23, 2025
This book is fairly comprehensible but not quite enjoyable as I have some objections.
First, I am disturbed by so many experiments on animals reported here, which I see as abuse and vile. The writer justifies that it’s done for the benefit of human beings. Humans have been sacrificing animals for so long and yet a lot of us still suffer. A depressed person may become more depressed to know that for the cure of their depression, some parties make some other beings miserable as well--even worse. That only creates a vicious cycle. Must science be developed in such cruel ways? Why can't we use our intelligence and creativity in compassionate ways?
Second, this book examines factors contributing to helplessness. I disagree with some factors it mentions.
This book emphasizes “control on environment” as the key factor. The thesis is one feels helpless if they’re devoid of control on their environment, therefore the treatment offered is to make the person regains the sense of control. I don't fully agree with that because there's only so much we can control; one may set a schedule for the day and accomplish that smoothly yet still feel helpless because unexpected things that one isn't prepared for could happen anytime.
And I guess the idea of “control on environment” may only apply in the western mind. This is discussed by a British author, Lawrence Blair, in his book, Ring of Fire (Indonesia: Ufuk Press, 2012). In the first chapter of that book, he describes the different ways of living between Hollywood/Los Angeles and Bali, which are fundamentally opposite yet complementary. He says that to survive in Los Angeles, indeed one must control the environment, while in Bali completely surrender (pg. 20). Moreover, not very far to the west side of Bali, in Java there's a philosophy nrimo ing pandum that means “to sincerely accept whatever fate or ‘portion’ God has given”. Actually this book alludes to this kind of thinking too but it refers to the “Muselmänner” (moslem) in the Nazi concentration camps:
As we can read in the Ring of Fire book, such mentality doesn't particularly belong to only ‘moslem”, but other beliefs in Indonesia (specifically Bali and Kalimantan, as mentioned in that book) may have it as well. What I learn as a muslim myself, individual effort is demanded while also believing that God is in total control of everything and His help will come eventually.
I also don't fully agree with the “lack of effort and lack of standard” point. Again, one can only do so much that they may not have the capacity to exert more effort, as in the fact that not everyone is fit to be a soldier nor a surgeon. Having high standards without the capacity required to fulfill those may make one frustrated and eventually depressed.
Obviously this book tends to only see from the secular point of view. It takes up some spiritual matters a bit. Aside from the Mohammedans belief, there's a topic on the hex death--death by some sort of supernatural power or is that mere suggestion?
In some parts, the writer admits that he proposes only speculations as he's not an expert in physical diseases nor the metaphysical/parapsychological subjects. While the psychological state of helplessness may be significant in determining one's quality of life, I believe that's not the sole factor. One may feel lack of control but still persevere somehow. And the emphasis on individual control may make one susceptible to take their own life as the ultimate control one still can exert on oneself when everything else is no longer controllable.
First, I am disturbed by so many experiments on animals reported here, which I see as abuse and vile. The writer justifies that it’s done for the benefit of human beings. Humans have been sacrificing animals for so long and yet a lot of us still suffer. A depressed person may become more depressed to know that for the cure of their depression, some parties make some other beings miserable as well--even worse. That only creates a vicious cycle. Must science be developed in such cruel ways? Why can't we use our intelligence and creativity in compassionate ways?
Second, this book examines factors contributing to helplessness. I disagree with some factors it mentions.
This book emphasizes “control on environment” as the key factor. The thesis is one feels helpless if they’re devoid of control on their environment, therefore the treatment offered is to make the person regains the sense of control. I don't fully agree with that because there's only so much we can control; one may set a schedule for the day and accomplish that smoothly yet still feel helpless because unexpected things that one isn't prepared for could happen anytime.
And I guess the idea of “control on environment” may only apply in the western mind. This is discussed by a British author, Lawrence Blair, in his book, Ring of Fire (Indonesia: Ufuk Press, 2012). In the first chapter of that book, he describes the different ways of living between Hollywood/Los Angeles and Bali, which are fundamentally opposite yet complementary. He says that to survive in Los Angeles, indeed one must control the environment, while in Bali completely surrender (pg. 20). Moreover, not very far to the west side of Bali, in Java there's a philosophy nrimo ing pandum that means “to sincerely accept whatever fate or ‘portion’ God has given”. Actually this book alludes to this kind of thinking too but it refers to the “Muselmänner” (moslem) in the Nazi concentration camps:
In the camps they were called ‘moslem’ (Muselmänner) because of what was erroneously viewed as a fatalistic surrender to the environment, as Mohammedans are supposed to blandly accept their fate. (pg. 184)
As we can read in the Ring of Fire book, such mentality doesn't particularly belong to only ‘moslem”, but other beliefs in Indonesia (specifically Bali and Kalimantan, as mentioned in that book) may have it as well. What I learn as a muslim myself, individual effort is demanded while also believing that God is in total control of everything and His help will come eventually.
I also don't fully agree with the “lack of effort and lack of standard” point. Again, one can only do so much that they may not have the capacity to exert more effort, as in the fact that not everyone is fit to be a soldier nor a surgeon. Having high standards without the capacity required to fulfill those may make one frustrated and eventually depressed.
Obviously this book tends to only see from the secular point of view. It takes up some spiritual matters a bit. Aside from the Mohammedans belief, there's a topic on the hex death--death by some sort of supernatural power or is that mere suggestion?
In some parts, the writer admits that he proposes only speculations as he's not an expert in physical diseases nor the metaphysical/parapsychological subjects. While the psychological state of helplessness may be significant in determining one's quality of life, I believe that's not the sole factor. One may feel lack of control but still persevere somehow. And the emphasis on individual control may make one susceptible to take their own life as the ultimate control one still can exert on oneself when everything else is no longer controllable.
October 9, 2015
¡Ciencia!
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